Axar.az presents the article "Get a dog, not a gun" - by John Samuel Tieman.

How easy is it to arm yourself in America?

I posed myself this little test. How much would it cost me to equip myself, and arm myself, more or less as I was in Vietnam? And how long would that take?

In The Nam, I carried an M-16. You can't buy an M-16 per se, but you can buy any one of the innumerable variations upon the Colt AR-15, essentially a semi-automatic M-16. Prices vary but often are under $1000. So let’s call it $999.99. Ammo not included. I would also like a helmet, old school, Vietnam era, $29.99. A flak vest, $249.00. Jungle fatigues, $79.00. Jungle boots, $38.05. I found a bayonet and scabbard for $50. I’ll supply the socks and the underwear. I’ll even bring a belt.

At this point, I am about as well equipped, and well-armed, as I was in Vietnam. $1,446.03. However, if I were to purchase a 1911 Colt .45, the standard-issue side arm of my era, I would be better armed than I was in Vietnam. (Side arms were generally given to officers and sergeants, and I was a common soldier.) I found one at the bargain price of $369.

And one sweet serendipitous find. I can also purchase an M-79 grenade launcher for $8,500. A few times, I used one of these during my war. My wife insists that a grenade launcher is precisely what we need for all our home security needs.

Total cost, $1,815.03. Make that $10,315.03 if you really need the grenade launcher. Grenades not included.

That’s how easy it is. To find and price all this, it took me fifteen or so minutes, a little longer than it takes to read this essay.

Here's my point. I make no claims about being an expert in weapons and such. That's my point. I'm no expert. I can nonetheless easily can find all this in minutes, and readily equip myself, likely within days, with more weapons than the army ever issued me in Vietnam.

By the way, I own a gun. So I once called the local police about gun regulations. A lieutenant, to whom I spoke, was indifferent to the fact that I had actually just inherited an unregistered revolver. Long story short, he told me that the law didn't require me to register my .38, although it might be helpful, for example, “if someone steals it and uses it in a murder.” A summary of my state’s gun regulations I once read in the time it took me to drink a cup of coffee. I have no idea what the National Rifle Association is worried about. I am amazed at how little my government regulates weapons in private hands.

As I write, there have been two mass shooting in one week. By the time this essay is turned into ink, there may well be another massive shooting. I would like to end this essay on a note of hope. But my state has vastly more stringent requirements for a barber than for an owner of an AK-47 knock-off.

I don’t know if there even should be a unified national policy on gun control. Rural Wyoming is not the same as the city of St. Louis. That said, I am not “a well-regulated militia”. I’m a fat old man at a computer. And I've got a gun.

I draw from all this a simple conclusion. Concerning the simplest forms of gun control, we have tried to dialogue with the National Rifle Association and those who are like-minded. How's that going so far? It is time now to take such political measures as will simply defeat such folks, and ban privately owned assault rifles.

As for home defence, get a schnauzer. An assault schnauzer. Price: $400.